Chanting "Free, free Palestine," hundreds of people gathered in Seattle on Saturday to oppose the recent violence in the Middle East, mirroring protests worldwide that have drawn thousands as Israel has faced increasing criticism for its attacks on the Gaza Strip.

In Seattle, more than 500 people waved yellow-and-black placards and beat drums at Westlake Center to draw attention to the more than 400 Palestinians who have died from Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.

"We believe that even if a part of your body is injured, your whole body will ache from it," said Maha Shabaneh, who has relatives in her homeland of Palestine.

Shabaneh, a 43-year-old who lives in Seattle, wants people in the United States to be more aware of the conflict in the Middle East and for President-elect Barack Obama to be bold in dealing with it.

"He won't be successful until he tackles foreign issues," she said. "He needs to stand on these issues and prove that he is different."

In the crowd, Wendy Somerson, 40, a Jewish woman from Seattle, clutched a sign that read, "The State of Israel Betrays Jewish Values."

"We don't support collective punishment of the Palestinian people. All people are equal and all lives are equal," said Somerson, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace.

"The 400 Palestinian lives. We're mourning them just as we're mourning the four Israeli lives," she added, referring to those who have died recently.

Voices of Palestine and other groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace, organized the rally.

The protest drew a cross section of area residents, including Buddhists, Muslims, Latinos, Iraqis and U.S. military veterans.

"Occupation is a crime," many of them yelled before returning to Westlake Center along Fifth Avenue.

Leading the protesters was a group of Palestinian-American children, who had a makeshift stretcher with a doll splattered with red paint. Several wore bulls-eye targets that read, "Am I your next target?"

The protesters were angered by recent actions of Israel, which on Saturday sent military forces into the neighboring Gaza Strip. It was the Jewish state's latest move in its eight-day offensive against Hamas, the ruling party in Gaza, aimed at forcing the Islamist Palestinian group to stop firing rockets at Israel's southern cities.

Israel began its aerial assault on Dec. 27, saying it wanted to halt rocket attacks after a six-month cease-fire with Hamas expired Dec. 19. The Israeli army contends that militants have launched more than 3,000 rockets and mortar shells at Israel since the beginning of 2008.

For their part, Hamas refused to renew the cease-fire because it says Israel had not eased its economic blockade of Gaza, and launched 70 rockets at Israel the day before the cease-fire ended.

Officials estimate more than 435 Palestinians died since Israel started its offensive. Four Israelis have also died in the violence. The United Nations estimates at least a quarter of the Palestinians killed by Israeli air strikes on Hamas militants were civilians.

The Israeli government has rejected calls for a temporary cease-fire, saying it would be a "mistake" to give the movement time to rearm and regroup. Hamas, which denies Israel's right to exist, seized control of Gaza in 2007 after a brief power-sharing arrangement with Abbas, of the rival Fatah movement.

In late December, the American Jewish Committee's Greater Seattle Chapter released a statement, saying that Israel supports a two-state solution for coexistence but that Hamas "calls for Israel's destruction."

Before Israel launched its attacks, the group said, government leaders encouraged Hamas to stop its "reign of terror."

"We mourn the loss of innocent lives, but it is important to understand that these tragic losses flow directly from Hamas' reckless drive to undermine and destroy Israel -- whatever the cost," the statement reads. "We also hope and pray that Hamas and its supporters soon come to their senses and choose the path of peace."

Although many people on Saturday applauded the protesters, Seattle resident Erin Lee, 30, walked by Westlake Center and questioned their actions.

"I'm definitely for Israel," she said. "Palestine has done attacks in the past. It's an ongoing fight."

Throughout Saturday's protest and during the march, Everett resident George Bentley, 46, waved an Israeli flag. At times, some protesters stood near him and tried to put their signs in front of him.

"I am here to support Israel while they defend themselves from a vicious series of attacks that have been going on since the day that Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip," Bentley said.

Bentley is neither Jewish nor an Israeli citizen, but said he showed up because Israel is a U.S. ally. Israel, he added, has been doing its "best" to limit civilian casualties but injured and dead people are a risk of urban warfare.

Siraj Lala, a 35-year-old from India, stood at Westlake Center with a sign that read "End Israeli Apartheid."

"I think the best resolution is a two-state resolution," the Redmond resident said. "That Israel has it owns state and Palestinians have their own state."